Friday, 29 June 2012

Day 6 - Regina the beautiful

We were ready to go by 0830 today. We thought it was 0930 but my trustee iphone was saying it was 0830. I looked in my atlas again to look at the time zones and in fact we were only supposed to change time once we crossed into Alberta. I seemed to remember something about one of the provinces not adhering to daylight savings time (DST). And yes, of course, Saskatchewan does not so my trustee iphone was right! Man I love my iphone!

This morning we reached the 3000 kms landmark. I missed it!

We arrived in Regina at 0930. As soon as we entered the city we saw a Mr. Lube. Perfect, as we needed an oil change and a fuel filter. We had to unhook the trailer because we wouldn't have made the turn out of the garage. What a great company. Pull in, offered coffee or water and the morning paper. The guys pulled up our information on the computer and away they went. We were out of there in no time. (We love Dragon's Den and especially Jim - this is one of his companies).

We then decided to head on over to the RCMP Heritage Museum and Depot. On Friday's they have the Sgt Major's Parade so we thought we would get there on time to see it.

Our experience didn't start off that great. The young lad at the kiosk was not sure of himself and he also did not give us the police discount as explained on the website. We didn't think much of it and went on to visit the museum as the tour was only starting in a half hour. The museum is very nice but we both didn't find it that informative, we didn't visit the second half though because the tour was about to start. Our tour guide was a young girl who again was not very confident and didn't look that enthused. She took us around and pointed to the buildings around the academy and didn't not offer much more information than what was on the signs in front of the buildings. Most of the buildings have been renovated so there isn't much history. The cadets were walking around and it must be our military background but we weren't that impressed with their deportment. They do have a very old wooden chapel on the grounds that was very nice to visit. Cadets are at the depot for 6 months. There are new intakes of 32 cadets that come in at various times during the year. I was surprised by that because I assumed they all came in at once. You can identify at what stage the cadets are at by their dress. They start off with running shoes, pants and a shirt. As they get further into their training they get the stripe on their pants, their gun belt (minus the gun) and, eventually their riding boots. The Sgt's parade consisted of an inspection and a march pass. It was interesting for us to see the drill as they do dismounted drill. A little different than what we are used to. Their parade square is beautiful.

The names of all officers who lost their lives in the line of duty.

We met a very nice couple from South Carolina, Bob & Cindy. They were on their way to Calgary for the stampede. He is a retired Maryland State Trooper. We enjoyed chatting with them throughout our tour. He asked Justin if he got in for free, because Bob was excited that he didn't have to pay as a retired police officer. We told them that we paid full price even though Justin showed his credentials. We tried to get our money back but the staff said they couldn't do anything. (Note: we would have been happy to pay the entry fee but we were so disappointed in this visit that we figured we would try and get the discount.) Justin left before the march pass was over because Bones was in the truck and it was getting pretty hot. When I returned with Baby girl we got some lunch prepared and had a picnic.

We then headed towards town to Wascana Lake. We wanted to make it on time as they were offering free boat rides on the Lake in honor of their 50th anniversary. It was about 1430 when we got to the lake and we saw the boat leave on the tour. I wasn't sure if they would be going out again but we decided to wait and it paid off because the tour guide took us on the tour. This park is stunning! It is a man made lake. The legislative assembly is on one side and trails go around the entire lake. we were really impressed. After the boat tour we decided we had to take advantage of this beautiful scenery so Justin took our bikes down and off we went. We started off with Bones but he isn't that good with the bikes so we took him back and continued on. We all enjoyed the ride. Everyone loves to see BB girl on her bike seat. We packed everything up and headed out of town - destination: Moose Jaw.

The prairie skies are amazing. At this point though, we still don't find it crazy flat. Justin describes it best as beautiful rolling hills. Just stunning.

I usually don't call ahead but on our way I decided to call the campground to ask for their availability. Good thing I did because they had no room for us. None of the campsites in Moose Jaw could take us. So, we opted for Buffalo Pound Provincial park which is 20 minutes North East of Moose Jaw. Turns out, it was great because it was a nice campsite and a trail that lets you catch a glimpse of a herd of buffalos.

We set up for the night, fed BB girl and put her to bed. Unfortunatly, this is the first time we have such a hard time putting her to sleep. We think she was really overtired today. Her cry was piercing. Finally, she went down! Justin wanted to make a fire. I was freezing. I did not enjoy the fire at all. It's in a raised fire pit and was not warming me up at all! Justin was upset because I was not enjoying his fire. Nice thing at the park is that they provide you with wood. A good way to prevent people from bringing wood from other regions.